ST. LOUIS — Three police officers and a police advocacy group are suing the City of St. Louis for alleged racial discrimination.
Reginald Davis, Ja-Mes Davis, Heather Taylor and the Ethical Society of Police Inc. filed a complaint on July 14 in the St. Louis City Circuit Courtt, alleging that the defendant violated the Missouri Human Rights Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the officers named in the suit were among a group of candidates who applied for promotion from sergeant to lieutenant in June 2014. The plaintiffs, who are African-Americans, claim that during the process for promotion, they were placed into lower promotional clusters based on their race instead of their written test and oral interview scores. On July 1, 2014, the promotional clusters went into effect and will remains for two years, unless amended by the police chief. Allegedly as a result, the plaintiffs were not promoted to lieutenant and have suffered emotional distress and embarrassment.
The plaintiffs hold the defendant responsible for allegedly failing to employ neutral, outside evaluators for the oral interview process and for permitting internal evaluators to evaluate candidates against whom they had personal biases and/or had previously disciplined.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment for lost wages and benefits of employment, pre-judgment interest, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, costs of litigation and for any further relief the court deems just . They are represented by Brian Love and Thomas A. Federer of Federer & Federer PC in St. Charles.
St. Louis City Circuit Court case number 1722-CC10779